Finding Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 1) (9 page)

At the sight of his money, she was eager enough to follow him anywhere. He pitied how quickly she agreed to go with a stranger, but was thankful he could find anyone in the short amount of time. If he had more, he would have liked to have Annabelle give him some of her clothes for this little girl to wear.

Annabelle had been correct that it would be easier if she were there. But he couldn’t have her running in front of another charging vampire in the middle of a fight. If he played this right, Mr. X wouldn’t realize he’d been duped until it was too late.

Soon enough they had reached the designated spot. There was still half an hour to spare, but Nicolas would have preferred more.

He directed the girl to sit on a particular bench. She wore a sweatshirt that was similar in shape to the one Annabelle had lost on their first night. Another advantage for him. He had her raise the hood around her head, to hide her features so no one could see her face until they got very close.

He’d prefer to give her the money half now and half later, but he was worried he’d have to leave quickly and not have time to pay her. He could force her to stay put, but then she would have no way of defending herself if the situation got dangerous.

He would have to use intimidation and charm on this one. Charm to convince her that no sex would be involved and that she should be safe, even if the last part was a lie. He also used a bit of intimidation to get her to think twice about running with his money.

When he was all set with her, he looked for a place to watch. There were no tall hills around that he could perch on to watch below. He decided a tree would be his best bet.

There were plenty of weeping willows lining a stream not too far from the meeting spot. He climbed up one and perched behind the cover of the draping branches.

At exactly one, a man walked up. By the extra fast pace he moved at, without showing the exertion of jogging, Nicolas knew he wasn’t human. He wore a large trench coat, and that worried Nicolas. Vampires who wore lots of baggy clothing were usually wearing lots of weapons underneath that clothing.

He stopped when he saw the Annabelle stand-in on the bench. He looked all around him to see whether anyone else was around. He also looked up to the trees, but his eyes appeared to pass over Nicolas. He approached the girl.

From his vantage in the tree, Nicolas could see the girl got visibly nervous when she was approached. The man didn’t say anything to her as he walked up. He put a hand on her arm and pulled her to stand up. She struggled a bit but stopped as soon as the man took out his wallet.

He handed her a small wad of bills. “Leave here, and don’t come back tonight.”

She nodded and ran with the money. Suddenly, Nicolas was grateful he hadn’t used any mind tricks on her. If he had, this vampire would know another was near.

This man didn’t have any interest in the girl. Nicolas assumed he must not be Mr. X. So who the hell was it? The man turned, and his face caught a bit of the light. A human wouldn’t have been able to make out his features from this distance at night, but Nicolas wasn’t human. Recognition washed over him.

This man was Aleksander’s. He was one of his most trusted guards. He was beside Aleksander when he killed Kirill. He’d almost gotten Nicolas. He recalled his name was Besnik.

He had to get the hell out of here before he was spotted. This was no newborn vampire to fight. This was an experienced one with many more weapons than Nicolas had currently.

He didn’t want to move and give away his position, so he stayed his ground and waited. Soon another vampire approached Besnik. This one also wore disturbingly baggy clothing.

As he neared, Besnik smiled, and the two men embraced in a hug. They exchanged hellos, when one of their cell phones rang. The newcomer answered it.

“This is not a good time,” said the new one. He listened. “What do you mean?” More silence. “We’ll take care of it.” He hung up the phone.

He leaned forward to Besnik and said something so quietly, even Nicolas’s hearing couldn’t pick it up. Whatever the mystery caller had said, it spooked the two men. They each pulled very long, sharp swords from the depths of their long coats.

Nicolas had a very bad feeling. The two spread out and looked for something, or, rather, someone. Nicolas had been made.

Someone set him up. Besnik was one of Aleksander’s main confidants. This scene made it apparent Nicolas was spying on the man. Made it appear as though he planned an attack on Aleksander. He was, but he didn’t need anyone to know that.

He might be able to take them in a fight. He was stronger than both of them. Despite his strength, there were still two of them, and they both had swords. All he had were the daggers he always carried with him.

His best bet would be running. He could probably outrun them. He was stronger, and he knew the city very well. He didn’t like betting his life on “probably.”

Both men looked in the opposite direction of the tree that provided him shelter. He leaped down and put his full speed into escaping the park. To a human eye, he would look like little more than a blur.

He knew they heard him the second he moved, but he never looked back to see the men behind him. He was quickly out of the park and running on the streets. He stuck to the road. The large cars were easier to avoid at high speeds than the random people walking on the sidewalks at this time of night.

He wanted to let Annabelle know about the new development, but he couldn’t stop to warn her. He could only hope Mr. X didn’t plan to go to her when she was unprotected at her apartment. She should be smart enough not to invite anyone inside. She was smart enough not to invite him.

It might take him all night to lose the men chasing him. It took a lot for a vampire to lose a fresh scent trail, but Nicolas was very old and knew all the tricks.

In his determination to survive, he forced his legs to move even faster.

Anna had a difficult time just sitting around and waiting for Nicolas to make contact. She desperately wanted to call him. Sitting and waiting in her tiny apartment was driving her insane.

She tried to get some grading done, but it was much too difficult to focus on the words she was trying to read.

Eventually she went to bed, but sleep wouldn’t come to her. Around three in the morning, she pulled out her laptop, hoping the Internet would distract her from her worried mind.

She checked up on some of her vampire sites. There wasn’t anything interesting or new on any of them. There was no news from the Stakes. She wanted to tell them something. All this searching for the supernatural and Anna had been hanging out with one for the past two nights. It seemed only fair that she give them a heads-up.

At the same time, she didn’t want to give Nicolas away. She opened up her email she used for her vampire hunting purposes and typed in Dennis’s email address. She stared at the blank screen for a few minutes as she debated how much information to share.

She wrote:

Dennis,

I found one. Can’t talk about it. Mr. X called me. I don’t trust him. He knows too much about us.

Be safe, Anna

Anna hit the Send button and was happy she’d sent the email. The group deserved to know. She picked up her phone and stared at it, willing it to ring.

She debated calling Nicolas herself. Maybe he’d forgotten to call her, but she doubted that was the case. It was now two and a half hours after the meeting was supposed to have started. Something must have gone wrong.

She couldn’t sit around while Nicolas was out there. The only reason he’d gone there was because she told him about it.

At four in the morning, she finally gave up on waiting for a call and pulled on her leather jacket. She would run by his apartment, and then she would plan from there. Maybe he was there and wounded. He could be safe, but unable to call.

She no longer had a gun to protect herself, but she dug out an old container of mace Abigail had gotten her when she’d first moved to the city.

Her legs wanted to run, but she forced herself to go at a brisk but relaxed pace. If there was trouble, she would have to conserve energy. She repeatedly checked her phone on the walk, but she never got a call.

Because of the late hour, she’d brought her lock pick set along. She didn’t think there would be anyone coming or leaving the building at this hour, and hopefully no one would be around to pay attention to what she was doing.

Even though the city never slept, the people out at four thirty in the morning liked to mind their own business.

When she got there, she didn’t need to pick any locks. The doorjamb was broken, as if someone had pulled until the wood around the lock just gave. Little splinters stuck out from the broken door, and a few rested on the ground where they’d fallen.

That wasn’t good. Anna opened the door slowly, but there was no one in the entryway. It took a lot of strength to break a door. She supposed a human could’ve done it, but it was much more likely that a vampire had pulled on the door so hard the lock ripped out of the wall.

She wanted to go to Nicolas’s apartment to see whether he was there but knew that would be a stupid move. Then again, even coming to the building hadn’t been the brightest idea. Even if there were vampires in the building, chances were they wouldn’t care about her.

They probably wouldn’t know she knew Nicolas. She convinced herself she probably wouldn’t die. She took a quick look at the intercom buttons, and checked the name of the occupant of the apartment below Nicolas.

She went up the first three floors of stairs as quietly as possible. When she reached the third floor, she quietly took off her jacket and shoes. She slipped the mace into her jeans pocket. She called into a closed door, “Okay, okay! I’ll be right back!”

She then climbed the last couple stairs to the fourth floor. She no longer tried to hide her steps.

Nicolas’s door was also broken, to the point that it hung open. She didn’t enter, but she knocked on the open door rather loudly. “Hello?” she called, being obnoxiously loud.

Soon enough, a large man who wasn’t Nicolas walked up to the open doorway. She planted an annoyed look on her face. “Can I help you?” he asked.

She looked him over. He was very tall and wore an oversized coat. Strange for someone inside to wear. She tried to tell whether he was human or not, but just from looks she was unable to decide. He didn’t appear happy to see her and had a large frown firmly planted on his face.

Anna went full force into the act she’d come up with on the fly. “I’m Mrs. Zimmerman’s niece. She was wondering what all the ruckus was.” Anna’s voice clearly conveyed
I can’t believe you annoyed her so much she made me come up here at four thirty in the morning.

The man didn’t respond right away. Anna imagined him deciding whether he should kill her or tell her a lie. Anna knew he would try to end this peacefully. She’d crafted her story to make it obvious she had someone waiting for her just one floor below who, apparently, could hear a lot through the floor. She’d also spoken loud enough so the other neighbor on the floor may now be awake. Her bare feet added to the illusion that she’d come from another apartment in the building. She couldn’t wear her jacket, because no one would put on a jacket to go up one story to talk to a neighbor.

Soon enough, he put on a smile. “I’m so sorry for the noise. I had an acquaintance over, and unfortunately it didn’t end well.” He looked down to the doorjamb, as if to emphasize his point.

“Didn’t end well?” She encouraged him to elaborate. If he was going to lie about breaking into Nicolas’s apartment, she would make him work at it.

He lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Anna. She fought the urge to lean farther back from him, but managed to stay her ground. He whispered to her, “It was over a woman.”

She put a knowing smile on her face and nodded at him. “Ahhh,” she whispered back. “I understand.” She really didn’t. She hadn’t seen many fights in her life. The one last night had been an exception.

Anna made a show out of sighing. “Well, try to keep it down. My aunt really likes her sleep.”

He smiled. “You won’t even know I’m here.”

She was about to leave, but then decided to test one more thing. As she walked to the stairs, she said, “I’m Jane, by the way.” Jane Doe had been the only name she could think of. She ended the statement with what she hoped was a flirtatious smile.

“Nicolas,” he said back to her, meeting her smile with his own.

That son of a bitch was stealing Nicolas’s name.
She had the urge to pull out her mace right then and there and take the smile off his face.

She managed a quiet goodnight, and walked down the stairs.

She grabbed her shoes and jacket but didn’t pause to put them on. She wanted to get out as quickly as possible. She tried to be quiet, but she knew if he were really listening, he would hear her going down more stairs, and he would notice that no door had been opened on the floor below.

When she was finally out into the night air, she slipped her shoes on as quickly as possible and put her jacket on as she was walking.

She’d wanted to go into Nicolas’s apartment but knew he wasn’t in there. The man had probably broken into the building to look for Nicolas. The only reason Anna could think of him still being there was that he was waiting for Nicolas to come home.

That was good news, because that meant whoever this man was with hadn’t found Nicolas yet, and they hadn’t killed him.

So Anna was left to wonder who this man was and why he would want Nicolas. She refused to believe it was a coincidence this happened the same night she was supposed to meet Mr. X.

She supposed Mr. X could’ve seen him there, but why go through the trouble of tracking him down after he’d put Anna in contact with Nicolas in the first place?

She really needed to talk to Nicolas. She looked at her phone again. No missed calls. She found his number in her contacts and called him. He didn’t answer. She cursed under her breath.

When she was a safe enough distance from his apartment, she stopped to lean against a wall. She didn’t want to go back to her apartment only to wait for a call that might never come. She could go to Central Park. This early in the morning, the joggers would be out, and it would be safe enough. But one o’clock was a distant memory now, so she doubted Nicolas would still be there.

There really was nothing more she could do. She headed back to her apartment. As she rounded the corner to her building, it occurred to her that she might have someone following her, but as long as she got into her apartment, no vampire could enter.

She supposed a human could be working for a vampire, but she could take care of a human. She was a good fighter and had plenty of possible weapons at her home. She just needed to get there.

She walked fast but didn’t run and didn’t look over her shoulder. She unlocked the door to her building in record time and slammed it shut behind her. She looked out the windows after she shut the door but didn’t see anyone looking back at her.

As soon as she was in her apartment, she checked the time again. The clock read five in the morning. Sunrise wasn’t for another two hours. Anna settled in and continued to play the waiting game.

It wasn’t until seven thirty in the morning that she finally got a call. She’d been in bed, trying to sleep after her restless night. When the phone rang, she practically flew off the bed.

She saw his number and almost sobbed in relief. “Nicolas?”

“Good morning.” His voice sounded tired.

“What happened last night? Are you safe?”

“I’m safe for the moment. We were set up.”

Anna frowned. “Set up? What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying this guy, Mr. X, whatever the fuck his name is, he never intended to show up but knew I’d be there. He set me up.”

Anna tried to sort out how Mr. X knew so much. “He knew you would be there? How would he know that?”

“I don’t know!” Nicolas yelled into the phone.

Anna practically jumped, unused to the harsh words coming from him.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Two of Aleksander’s men were having a meeting at the spot. They got a phone call telling them I was there. I’ve been evading them all night.”

“Aleksander’s men are after you now?” asked Anna. “That’s probably who was at your apartment.”

“What the hell were you doing at my place?” His voice got loud and angry again.

“You didn’t call, and it was getting late—or rather, early,” said Anna. “You could’ve been dying for all I knew. I couldn’t just sit at home and wait.”

“You couldn’t sit home and wait? That’s exactly what you could’ve done! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Anna was glad he was on the phone, because if he was in front of her, she probably would have punched him. “I think we established I have a death wish the second I ganged up with you,” she reminded him.
How dare he threaten her as much as he had, and then berate her for getting in dangerous situations?

She continued, “Speaking of stupid moves, going off to a meeting with some strange guy at one in the morning completely alone isn’t exactly life in the slow lane. I wouldn’t have gone out if I wasn’t so sure you were in trouble.”

“I
was
in trouble! But what exactly did you intend to do about it? You can’t fight off one of Aleksander’s best trained men.”

“You’d be surprised at what I can do, Nicolas.” She surprised herself with that statement. She honestly had no idea what she would do if a vampire came after her. At least if he was killing her, Nicolas would have more time to get away. Anna didn’t exactly want to die for Nicolas, but tonight proved that she had a very strong desire for him to survive.

“I don’t want to argue about this,” she said. “What do we do now?”

“Right now, we can’t do much. The sun just came up.”

Anna walked to the window and looked out at the brightening city. “Are you sure you’re safe?”

“I’ll be fine for the day. What about you?” he asked.

“What about me?”

“You have to be careful today. I have no idea what’s going on, but it has to do with you somehow. You need to stay at your place.”

“It’s daylight. No vampires are going to come after me while the sun is up,” she said.

“They could have humans helping them. Do not let anyone into your apartment today, not even people you know.”

Anna thought about the lack of people who had ever come to her apartment. “Why would someone I know try to attack me in my home?”

“Some vampires, pure ones, can control mortals. Make them do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

Fear snaked through Anna. “That’s ridiculous. Can you do that?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and Anna sensed that Nicolas didn’t want to answer the question. After all, why would he want to admit that he could control Anna’s mind? “Oh my God. You can do mind control? That’s not fair.”